Encounters at a Glance: Into the Wild

You might be skipping the best parts of your campaign without even knowing it.
Transform travel from a footnote into the most unforgettable part of your campaign.
No prep. No stress. Just epic journeys filled with memories your players will never forget.

Encounters at a Glance: Into the Wild

Encounters at a Glance is a set of zero-prep travel tools, immersive encounter books, dynamic weather events, scratch-off maps, and storytelling aids designed to bring your journeys to life.

Want to drop in 15 minutes of travel or run a full session-long journey through misty mountains? Encounters at a Glance has you covered.

What's inside, at a glance.

Each product of Encounters at a Glance is designed to inspire spontaneous moments that players remember long after the session ends - because the greatest memories often come from unplanned.

Whether you need 15 minutes of travel to get to the next town or a full session journey through the misty mountains, Encounters at a glance has you covered. 

• Forest, Swamp, Mountain and Ocean biome encounter books
• Explorer's Journal
• Weather condition cards
• Scratch-off biome posters
• 4 Decorative Biome DM Screens
• Cursed Navigator dice
• Mildred Plushie

Every world deserves to feel alive, even without the prep.
Effortlessly set the scene with zero-prep encounters, dynamic weather, and quick roleplay events that breathe life into your forests, swamps, oceans, and mountains. 

Let our cursed navigator dice steer your fate, whether you surrender to the chaos of our Scratch & Tear books or chart a safer course with their regular counterparts.

Have your players map out their encounters on scratch-off biome posters which turn into memory-filled centerpieces you can proudly hang on your wall at the end of the journey.

"Scroll down to see how each tool brings your world to life."

Ever noticed how a random side-quest your players chased down ended up becoming one of their favorite memories? I did, and I realized something: those magic moments usually happen when players are in between big story chapters; When they’re free to explore, relax, and get a little lost in your world

Take your players through dense forests, misty mountains, fey touched swamps, and treacherous oceans

The journey begins with zero prep

Inside each book, everything is ready the moment your players set out.
No prep. No stress. No flipping back and forth.

No homework, just narrate!

Every event, challenge or piece of information is written in read-aloud text so you can throw players straight into encounters without the need to "translate" information on the fly.

Just read, react, and watch your players have fun.

Encounters without page flips
Simply tear open* and unfold a 3-page encounter spread to dive straight into an immersive, read-aloud story hook, then narrate your way through the encounter using clearly marked headlines and progress sections.

From riddles and puzzles to stat blocks and traps, everything is easily referenced in encounter-specific info cards built right into the layout.

4 biomes 101 encounters and more than 1000 roleplay events.

It all starts with journey events.

Did your players wake up refreshed, grumbling about an itchy bedroll or chasing after a squirrel that ran off with their socks? 

Breathe life into your world with journey events that turn every day on the road into a story worth telling. Simply have your players roll the dice and let fate guide the way!

Boost party chemistry with our "journey events", bite-sized roleplay events that get your players bonding (or bickering) in minutes, using just 4 simple dice rolls.

Each morning the journey event pages let players roll a d20 to see how their day begins. Then the party leader takes charge, rolling to guide the party through the afternoon, evening, and night’s unfolding events.

Journey events are packed with quick, 4-5 minute roleplay scenes that spark laughter, conflict, confessions, and unexpected surprises among your players.

But beware, some rolls may trigger sudden weather shifts or encounters that lead to moral dilemmas, social challenges, murder mysteries, or hidden dangers.

Scratch & Tear

Each biome book comes packed with ready-to-run travel encounters tied to the regions your party explores. But if you're feeling adventurous - or just love a bit of chaos - you can level up the experience with the foldable Scratch & Tear edition.

Here’s how it works:
When a journey event triggers an encounter, you roll to see which discovery zone you scratch off - revealing the secret encounter page you're about to tear open and run.
Even you as a DM won’t know what’s coming next!

If you love the thrill of scratching a lottery ticket or tearing open an advent calendar, you’ll love the Scratch & Tear experience - bringing that same tactile excitement straight to your game table.

And yes, the books are 100% reusable. While the element of surprise may be gone, the encounters themselves can be used again in other campaigns, just like the non-scratch & tear versions.

Prefer a little more control?
The foldable, non-scratch version is available too, you’ll choose your favorite in the pledge manager after the campaign.

Ginny Di talks about Encounters at a glance: Into the wild and its scratch & tear feature!

Find out what makes Encounters at a glance different from other encounter books by scrolling to the "What makes Encounters at a Glance different" section

Want to take travel even further?
Add the deck of weather conditions and the Explorer’s Journal to unlock over 1000 biome-specific, weather-influenced journey events - bringing new twists, challenges, and discoveries to every day on the road. 

The Explorer’s Journal adds even more content and immersion to each of the 4 books in the form of extra days of journey events, weather themed journey events, campfire tales and info cards that add an extra level of difficulty to your encounters!

Extra days of journey events & weather themed journey events!
While the four biome books are packed with ready-to-run encounters and journey events, the Explorer’s Journal lets you add even more variability, excitement, and storytelling to each of the biomes by adding additional days of journey events.

Weather matters
Trigger a storm, a heatwave, or a sudden snowfall with one of the weather cards and the Explorer’s Journal gives you matching days of journey events that immerse your players deeper into your world’s unpredictability.

Campfire stories
Want to add even more roleplay around the campfire?
Campfire Stories introduces colorful NPCs, each with their own brave, foolish, or downright unbelievable tales - perfect for enriching downtime with memorable NPCs.

Adaptable info cards
The Explorer’s Journal gives you adaptable info cards tied to specific encounters, ready to turn up the heat whenever you want.

While the core encounters are designed to challenge your players, these cards let you raise the stakes even higher: Add dangerous twists, tougher complications, or deadlier enemies on the fly.

No journey goes untouched by the forces of nature.
Trigger weather events and find out how nature itself shapes your party’s journey!

With Weather Cards, you’ll bring dynamic weather into your world which alter journey events, challenging players in new ways, and forcing unexpected choices.
Some effects strike the entire party, while others might test certain individuals.

And when storms rage or heatwaves rise, the Explorer’s Journal allow you to roll from weather-specific journey event days that turn every forecast into a new story waiting to unfold.

Beautiful hand-drawn scratch-off posters turn every encounter into a milestone.

These posters aren’t just beautiful.
They’re addictive progress trackers that turn travel into a series of discoveries, leading to a memory-filled centerpiece you can proudly hang on your wall.

Watch your players get hyped as they scratch off new discovery zones and reveal the adventures they’ve carved into your world.

Ready to choose your path?
Keep scrolling to see which pledge is right for your next adventure!

What makes Encounters at a Glance different?

Most encounter books are walls of text that require heavy prep. We designed ours to run at a glance.

Encounters are laid out visually with bold section headlines, clear progression paths, and short intro hooks that tell your players exactly what crosses their path.
Everything is written in a storytelling voice, so you can read it aloud without needing to "translate" it into dialogue.

Designed for Instant Play

Each encounter spans two pages:

• Left page: Taking notes.
• Center page: Intro, objective, rewards, and info cards.
• Right page: The quest, broken into clear story sections with bold headlines.

Need to react to a player choice mid-session? No problem. The encounter section references the info cards directly, letting you shift between NPCs, puzzles, clues, or combat whenever needed.

Color-coded text sections keep things clear:

• 🟡 Yellow: Tips for the DM
• 🔴 Red: Challenges and complications
• 🟢 Green: Success conditions and resolution

Encounter section

Objective section

Info cards section

Download an early encounter preview here!

Travel That Feels Real, but Stays Flexible

Each day begins with a journey event: a quick, narratable moment that shapes the mood and flow of travel.
The whole system runs on just four dice rolls and can take as little as 5-15 minutes or 30-60 minutes if a triggered encounter unfolds.

Events can lead to roleplay, weather shifts, or full encounters - but DMs always stay in control.

Immersion That Reacts to the World

Travel gets impacted by nature.
Weather conditions influence the mood and intensity of each journey, especially when paired with biome-specific weather events from the Explorer’s Journal.
Rain, snow, or scorching heat? The journey changes with it.

Randomness With a Twist

When a random encounter is triggered, you don’t just pick one, you scratch and reveal it. Our Scratch & Tear mechanic means even you won’t know what’s coming.
It’s an (optional) surprise for both the DM and the players, especially when matched with our scratch-off biome posters that visualize the encounter.

At a glance:

Encounters at a Glance isn’t just an encounter book, it’s a set of dynamic, zero-prep travel tools where you control the pacing where every page is designed to make storytelling effortless, immersive, and fun.

• ✅ Zero-prep layout
• 🎭 Storytelling-ready narration
• 🎲 Effortless travel system (5–60 mins)
• 🌦 Biome + weather integration
• 🔥 Scratch & Tear random encounters
• 🧩 Info-card-driven story flow

﹒ Cursed navigator dice

As dice goblins with zero self-control, it was only natural that we had to design our very own set of liquid core travel dice! 

These liquid core dice were crafted to complement the feel of Encounters at a Glance: Into the Wild. Whether you’re navigating dense forests, braving murky swamps, sailing the open ocean, or scaling misty mountains, let these dice (and their cursed compass) be your guide.

Have a look at our very first prototype! 

A collaboration with fellow Belgian startup Craftioli!

If you’re on our Discord, chances are you've already met Game Master Worlds’ very own sassy Mildred. Once a seasoned adventuring rogue in Grunk's party, she now roams Grunk's Tavern, handing out snarky comments and unsolicited advice. 

Our community plays a huge role in everything we do. After the success of last year's Grunk plushie, of course we had to team up again with indie creators Craftioli. This time to bring you Mildred in a much more huggable (and deceptively cute) form.

﹒ Mildred Pin

Meet Mildred, the grumpiest regular at Grunk’s Tavern (our Discord) member of Grunk's party and everyone’s favorite source of unsolicited opinions! Sure, she complains. A lot. But beneath the eye-rolls and sighs, she’s basically the tavern’s grumpy grandma and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

So of course, we made a pin. Because nothing says "nat 1" like Mildred’s look of pure, unfiltered disappointment. 

This awesome pin was designed by Studio Birb! 

REAL artists, REAL writers, no AI

In all our products, past and future, we are committed to working with real artists and writers, never AI. Each encounter is written by writers from our community and the books feature beautiful artwork tailored to match the theme of each biome, along with stunning hand-drawn maps and illustrations representing each of the encounters.

WHICH PATH ARE YOU TAKING?

No matter what kind of journey you're planning, there's a pledge for you:

• 💾 Digital Biomes: For DMs who want the PDF versions of the encounter books
• 🌱 Short Path: Pick out two biome encounter books
• 🖥️ Digital Path: For DMs who want all the books in PDF form.
• 🌳 Long Path: Full access to all four biome encounter books
• 🌋 Explorer’s Path: The box set; The biomes, the journal, weather cards, posters, screens & more
• 🔪 Mildred’s Path: The box set + Plushie, for rogue mischief
• 🎲 Goblin’s Path: The box set + all the dice
• ✍️ Contributor’s Path: All the above + your own contribution and a signed copy!

Choose your preferred combo of books in the pledge manager. You can also select the type of book (scratch & tear version or regular book) in the pledge manager.

Choose your preferred type of book (scratch & tear version or regular version/non scratch-off) in the pledge manager.

Choose your preferred type of book (scratch & tear version or regular version/non scratch-off) in the pledge manager.

Choose your preferred type of book (scratch & tear version or regular version/non scratch-off) in the pledge manager.

Choose your preferred type of book (scratch & tear version or regular version/non scratch-off) in the pledge manager.

Contribute to the book

If you walk the Contributor's Path, you're not just backing a book, you're shaping it. Submit your own roleplay event to be added in the Explorer's Journal as part of an additional set of "journey day" events. Your imagination becomes part of a book found on game store shelves around the world. On top of that, Nathan himself will sign each box-set from the Contributor's Path! 

Choose your preferred type of book (scratch & tear version or regular version/non scratch-off) in the pledge manager.

Want to grab a book or box-set from our previous Kickstarter?

Worlds at a glance: Towns & Villages is your perfect companion when you need rich and lively villages without any extra prep. It's full of shops with modular descriptions, shop lists, thieve guilds, brothels, libraries and NPCs for each location!
Learn more about it here

If you order Towns & Villages via Kickstarter, it will arrive with Into the wild pledge.

Shipping rates

Please note we are unable to ship to the following countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Faroe Islands, Virgin Islands, Guam, Seychelles, Falkland Islands.

Certain countries may require additional customs charges. Some of these countries include, Brazil, Chile, Argentina & Mexico.

Timeline

The main concerns regarding our timeline is how soon our writers can finish the encounters/stories, and how quickly the illustrators can complete their artwork. We believe that they can finish by the last quarter of this year, however good content can't be rushed so if we do experience delays, we will let you know in advance. 

Unlike our first Kickstarter last year, we’re now in a much stronger position when it comes to production, pick & pack, fulfillment and shipment. We already have established relationships with our manufacturers and warehouses, which means we can process and deliver this campaign even more efficiently. 

We will once again be advised by Launchboom, Hive Interactive and other experienced Kickstarter creators we've connected with along the way, to ensure an even more seamless campaign experience. 

That being said, this is the timeline we're aiming for with this campaign:

• May 6th 2025 ・ Launch Kickstarter
• June 5th 2025 ・ End Kickstarter
• June 30th 2025 ・ Pledge manager surveys are sent out 
• October 2025 ・ Files are submitted for production
• December 2025 ・ Shipment to warehouses
• January 2026 ・ Delivery of PDF versions
• April 2026 ・ Shipment to backers

Creator Highlights

Encounters at a Glance is a community-driven effort, bringing together seasoned Dungeon Masters, respected writers, passionate D&D enthusiasts, and amazing members of our Discord! Each contributor adds their unique creativity and expertise to help bring Encounters at a Glance: Into the Wild to life. We’re proud to work alongside such a talented and diverse group, all driven by the same goal: to create something truly special for the tabletop community.

Writers

Maps ﹒Moreno 

Plushie﹒Craftioli 

Just like last year, we decided to launch a new plushie together for this Kickstarter campaign as well. These plushies are characters from a growing world of short stories we're developing to add rich lore to the Game Master Worlds universe.  

Pin﹒Studio Birb

The Mildred pin was designed by StudioBirb, one of our Game Master World Teammembers. The person behind StudioBirb is Lois, a freelance illustrator from the Netherlands, who lives with their partner and their two cats. Most of their time is spend by either watching, painting and feeding birds. Lois' favorite bird is the woodpigeon.

Since they joined our server, they started practicing more with making digital art, characters and emotes. They made several emotes for the Game Master Worlds Discordserver, and now they've designed this Mildred pin! We hope you enjoy wearing this little Mildred on your favorite pieces of clothing! 

Coin﹒Fran

Game Master Worlds is a group of friends over 20 years of Dungeons and Dragons experience under our belts. After the success of our first Kickstarter campaign last year, we’ve been more inspired than ever to keep creating tools that elevate your tabletop adventures! 

Following the success of Worlds at a Glance: Towns & Villages, we're turning our focus to what lies beyond. Encounters at a Glance: Into the Wild focuses on traveling through the wilderness and the adventures along the way.

Two years after his first D&D session in 2020, Nathan took the leap into Dungeon Mastering. Storytelling quickly became his favorite part of the game, but improvising on the fly is no easy feat! That's when he began creating worldbuilding tools to help fellow DMs bring their adventures to life, and thus, Game Master Worlds was born.

Shiu joined Nathan in September 2023, and together they started Game Master Worlds. As an avid (board) gamer and D&D player, Shiu is passionate about bringing people together, organizing engaging events, and creating the best D&D community in Belgium and beyond!

Since September 2023 we've attended numerous conventions, run both online and offline D&D sessions with our Discord community, and met amazing creators from around the world, some of whom are now writing several encounters for this campaign! 

Thank you

A big thank you from everyone at Game Master Worlds for helping us bring this project to life! Stay tuned for a future full of amazing new content from GMW! 

See you in the tavern? Follow us on Discord here!